Here’s How Marie-Louise Sciò Dresses to Run One of the World’s Most Elite Hotels

Marie-Louise Sciò grew up in a Slim Aarons photograph. Her family has owned and operated the Il Pellicano hotel since 1979, and Aarons famously captured its magic—and its recognizable yellow-and-white striped sun umbrellas—early on, when she was running around the cliffside grounds as a little girl. The chic accommodations sit on the coastline of Porto Ercole in Italy, about a two-hour drive from Rome, and its iconic guest book includes names like Sophia Loren, Jackie Onassis, and Kate Moss, among many other elites from the very upper echelons of high society. Today, Sciò is the vice president and creative director of the Pellicano Group, which also includes a second property in Ladispoli (also just outside of Rome) called La Posta Vecchia. Both hotels are exquisitely decorated with colorful Pierre Frey fabrics and lush antique furniture, thanks largely to Sciò. Her finely tuned aesthetic has come to represent the ideal la dolce vita escape and as such, she has a perfectly curated work wardrobe to match.

“My father really passed on his love for anything that is well made to me, as did my mother,” Sciò says. She looks to her family for guidance not only in the business itself, but as she always notes, for stylistic touches, too. But these hotels are hers now, and she has fully embraced the role of boss. While Sciò does try to “blend in” with the guests while she is at Il Pellicano or La Posta Vecchia by donning breezy dresses in bold colors and prints, she favors more tailored coats, blazers, jeans, T-shirts, and flat shoes for traversing from meeting to meeting on Rome’s cobblestone streets. Recently, Sciò has also taken her love of fashion and formed a new venture with her friend J.J. Martin, designer and founder of La DoubleJ. The pair have collaborated on a line of printed dresses for the shop at Il Pellicano.

Whether she is running a meeting in Rome or heading up a new design or hospitality project at Il Pellicano or La Posta Vecchia, Sciò manages to balance it all while looking as chic as her hotels always do.

Here, how Sciò dresses for her unconventional, vacation-centric nine-to-five.

“I get a lot of inspiration from the hotels themselves and the surrounding landscapes. Il Pellicano and La Posta Vecchia are places that give off a very elegant feel, but understated and very often with a twist.”

(Clockwise from top left) Photo: Courtesy of buccellati.com; Courtesy of toryburch.com; Courtesy of matchesfashion.com; Courtesy of ladoublej.com

“I definitely have gotten a lot of my style notes from the hotel guests over the years. I think growing up surrounded by incredibly chic women had a huge impact on the way that I dress today, and I love anything that is really well made and classically tailored.”

“I have three offices, one at Il Pellicano, one at La Posta Vecchia, and the headquarters in Rome. When I am in the city, I am usually in jeans, a rock-band T-shirt, tailored blazers, and Birkenstocks or Nike Air Max (these help when I walk to the office on the cobblestones). As for my bag, let’s just say that I don’t travel light! I love tote bags that can fit my computer, notebooks, my iPad, a book or two, and everything else.”

(Clockwise from top left) Photo: Courtesy of farfetch.com; Courtesy of net-a-porter.com; Courtesy of farfetch.com; Courtesy of net-a-porter.com; Courtesy of bloomingdales.com

“I definitely dress up more when I am at the hotels. I want to look like I am on vacation and blend in so I tend to wear a lot of long dresses from Valentino, Vilshenko, Rokh, and Luella Bartley. I also of course love J.J. Martin and La DoubleJ. Her dresses solve all of my day-to-night problems!”